Drugs affect different people in different ways. Take cocaine for example. Not only does the drug have a stronger impact on the behavior of individuals with a particular genetic makeup, it also initiates more profound changes in their brains.

Researchers at the University of Michigan are studying brain plasticity in cocaine-treated rats after a period of abstinence. They’re studying how abstinence from the drug affects different types of rats – those with an “addictive personality” versus their less addicted cousins.

To determine the effects of cocaine abstinence on these two groups, the researchers studied specially bred lines of rats. One group was highly sensitive to cocaine, while the other group didn’t respond as strongly to the drug. Known as “high-responder rats” (bHR) and “low-responder rats” (bLR), the two groups reacted differently to the drug treatment, with bHR rats acting more agitated during cocaine treatment, and their brains displaying more pronounced plastic changes after a period of abstinence.